(Then again, might want to be careful with assumptions, there's plenty of young folks out there who've earned it (by any definition) way more than I have, I'm definitely a spoiled hack - but an old one. )

Maybe instead of laying around they worked themselves to the bone all summer and on any off time from school to save and get their stuff because they take their hobby very seriously and have a true passion for the music and instrument?

Too many unknown factors to make a decision positive or negative. We don't know the story behind the instrument. It could simply be a family with more wealth than the rest of us. Maybe parents rewarded something nice for report cards with straight A's or something like that.

Maybe the child started a paper route or another part-time job and worked/saved for a long time. I had a cousin that saved money from his paper route for 2-3 years to buy a dirtbike/motorcycle.

I think some people spend waaaaay to much time worrying about what other people are doing. I don't care if the kid worked for two years to get the money for a Fodera, or if his daddy bought it for him. It doesn't affect my equipment or playing one tiny bit.

This "you gotta earn it" is BullSpit. I think it's mostly bitter individuals that can't stand someone having things easier than they had them. I delivered milk to earn the money for my first bass, bussed tables for my second and played Top 40/Disco for my third. I don't begrudge someone who has it easier than I did. I've seen kids that worked for equipment treat it like crap and kids that were given instruments treat them like fine china. It's all mostly how you were raised.

i had ' good gear ' when i was young , ... because my Dad was a good shopper ... !! new the owner at a local music store ... he helped by a few pianos for our church ,... while at it , he got me a great deal on a Yamaha upright piano ... an upgrade from the ancient big old upright i'd played for years ...

and from the same music store ... my 1st guitar - a 1957 Gibson ES225T ... only paid $125 .. !! the next year , my first bass - a 1969 Hagstrom Swede 8 string , again around $125 ... but , back in the early mid 70's , those items weren't as collectable or valuable as they might be now ...

i started with average amps by Univox ... soon moving to Sunn stuff ...

i'd say the only item or 2 that i might have been spoiled with ... my Conn Constellation trumpet , after played my grandfather's ancient Blessing trumpet for the first several years ... but i was ' first chair ' and pretty good ...

my first electric piano ... an RMI ... like Rick Wakeman played ... on that one i think i was just being a spoiled only child ... but i was a very good pianist by 16 , ... winning all kinds of awards and crap ...

more to the point of Now ... i think many parents throw stuff at their kids just to get them out of their hair , or just hoping something more expensive will actually make them practice .. ! neither is a good reason .. ! even if your rich and have money to burn , it still sends the wrong message ( in my mind ) ... !?

There's no intrinsic virtue in having to struggle with your instrument. Or to get a good one. (Been there so I know.)

Good equipment is a leg up. It won't necessarily make you a better player. Or turn you into a musician. (They're two different things IMO.) But it can go a long way towards removing those discomforts, frustrations and impediments that sometimes are enough to derail a beginning bass player's career before it barely gets started.

IMO a beginner needs a professional instrument much more than a pro does. A pro can get a workmanlike sound and performance out of almost anything. Beginner and apprentice level players need all the help they can get.

That's why I gave away three AmStd Fenders to promising young players I know and kept their Squier counterparts in my collection for myself. I can get everything I want from a Fender type bass out of the CV Jazz or the Freeman PB I've got. And I don't care about which name is on a headstock. But these three kids (or their peers or school music directors) just might.

Like I said, having really good equipment is no guarantee. But it's a definite leg up. And I have no problem with that - even if I never got such a break myself.